I like music. Almost any

I like music. Almost any kind of music, really. But I’ve never really been all that into live music. I feel silly trying to rock out in front of a bunch of strangers, and the crowds usually turn me off. But Jose loves live music and it’s about time he dragged me to something he wanted to do, instead of the other way around! Still, it was with a bit of trepidation that I began what will, for now, be known as The Weekend of Music.
We started things off last Thursday night with something tame enough: the symphony. They were kicking off their 2006-2007 season in style with a performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony — complete with chorus. It was incredible. The story goes that when the symphony first premiered, Beethoven was given five standing ovations at a time when even royalty got only three. It would be pretty cool to have been in the audience when it was played for the first time.
Friday we headed to hill country for Austin City Limits, a huge three-day festival with at least a hundred bands. Despite having some serious misgivings while standing in line for the shuttle on Friday afternoon and feeling like I was going to pass out from the heat, I had a really good time. For three days we did nothing but go to the concert, eat breakfast for dinner at Denny’s, shower, sleep, wake up, eat lunch at Katz’s Deli, and go back to the concert. We even had a routine at the concert — see bands, see more bands, and around 5:00, get shaved ice. Ohhhhhhh, the shaved ice tasted so good in the heat. (Side note: three days in the sun, no sunburn. Victory for me!)
Friday was the hottest day; Saturday was a bit cooler (thanks to a few clouds) and Sunday was even better (more clouds). We got pretty nasty during the day, but the evenings, when the sun went down and the breeze picked up and people were rocking on stage, made it all worthwhile.
Let’s see, on Friday we saw:
Stars (last half)
Gnarls Barkley (first half)
Okkervil River
Gomez (while waiting in line for shaved ice!)
Thievery Corporation (best of the day)
John Mayer (makes funny faces when he sings)
On Saturday:
Nada Surf (yeah, they played Popular)
TV on the Radio
The Shins
Charlie Sexton (while waiting for shaved ice!)
Aimee Mann
The Raconteurs
Iron & Wine (best of the day)
Explosions in the Sky (ended their set early, the bums)
Willie Nelson (while waiting for the shuttle)
And on Sunday:
Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley (played a bunch of his dad’s stuff)
KT Tunstall (in the distance)
Jose Gonzalez
Buckwheat Zydeco
Matisyahu (the second half)
Son Volt (while camping in our spot for…)
The Flaming Lips (complete with human hamster ball)
G. Love & Special Sauce
Bo Deans
Muse (great way to rock the end of the festival)
We skipped Tom Petty last night in favor of heading back to Houston, since I had to be at work early this morning and neither of us really cared about Tom Petty. In fact, my one “complaint” is that the headliners really played to an older crowd. Of the five headliners — Van Morrison, John Mayer, Willie Nelson, Massive Attack, and Tom Petty — only one (Mayer) really interested me.
For those keeping score at home, my favorite day was Friday (the evening, with Thievery Corp and John Mayer, was awesome), and my favorite single set was Iron & Wine on Saturday.
Three days of music for <$150 a ticket? I think we'll be heading back next year. 🙂